Aquire a Linux Install Disk

Request a free CD:

You are not required to burn the disk yourself. If you want to get Linux on your PC, you can have a CD sent to you for free. I was skeptical when I first read about this myself, but really Ubuntu will send you a free CD. Just head over to http://www.ubuntu.com and click on the “Get Ubuntu” Link on the left. When the next page loads you will be presented with the heading, “How can you get Ubuntu?” (see the screenshot below)

Look at the third tab from the left. The first tab says “Download Ubuntu,” the second says “Buy Ubuntu on CD,” and the third says “Request free CDs.” This is the one you will click. The tab that says “Buy Ubuntu on CD” is pretty much for people who want to pay for the DVD edition. Now that you have clicked “Request free CDs,” just go ahead and choose the option that you want to request that a CD be sent to you (or something similar). If you need to get back to this page you can just go to https://shipit.ubuntu.com/. Note what the page says here: “…delivery may take up to ten weeks….”

It might be worth mentioning here that when my free CDs are sent from Ubuntu, they have consistently included case stickers in each order. This is great for those of you who like to sport your new OS with a nice sticker for your computer case. You can place it where the other OS sticker used to be!

Burn the CD yourself:

Suppose that you do not want to wait that long for your free CD. You can burn it yourself. You will need a high-speed internet connection in order to download it since it is such a large download (695.8 MB). I have cable internet and it takes about 10 minutes to download. If you have DSL it will take a bit longer. I have downloaded CDs on a 56k modem in the past, and it took literally days for me to get Linux from the internet. There are just too many options available to folks these days that it is unnecessary to go through all that hassle. For example, if you have dial-up, you can just go out and buy a 1 GB USB key, take it to your friend’s house, a library, or wherever you can find a high-speed connection, download the CD image, copy it to your USB key, and go home and burn it.

So let us get started with the process of getting Ubuntu from the internet and burning it:

It will be helpful to summarize the process first, then to go through each step. What you are going to do is download an iso. For example, if you download the latest desktop version of ubuntu, the file that you will save to your computer will be called ubuntu-7.10-desktop-i386.iso and you should notice the file extension is .iso. This is a raw image of a CD. You will need to have CD burning software that can interpret this extension and burn the CD. You do not just copy the iso to the CD. It must be “unpacked” to the CD, so to speak. This is very important to understand. After you have burned the iso, you can just restart your computer, ensuring that your computer can boot from the CD or DVD drive. If you are not sure whether your computer is set to boot to the CD, just test it by placing your newly burned Ubuntu disk into your CD-ROM tray and restarting the computer. If your computer goes directly into your operating system, you are not booting the CD and will need to configure your BIOS to accomplish this. Check your computer’s manual on how to do that or the manufacturer’s website. In many cases, if you look carefully when you first boot your computer, you will see a message directing you how to enter “Setup.” For example, you might see, “Press F10 to Enter Setup,” or “Press Del to Enter Setup.” If you can’t figure it out, just leave a comment and maybe other users or I can help you figure it out. Getting into and configuring your BIOS is, for the most part, specific to your model.

Step 1:

Using your web browser, navigate to http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu and choose the appropriate options. For a Desktop PC, click “Download Now.” The current version is “Ubuntu Gutsy,” also known as “The Gutsy Gibbon,” or “Ubuntu 7.10.” You will be downloading for a standard personal computer. If you are unsure whether or not you have 64 bit or Sun, you probably do not. Chances are that you would know if you had one of those architectures. Click the drop-down menu to choose a location for the file to be downloaded from. You should choose a location that is closest to you. If you are in North America, you will not need to download from Africa. Search for a server close to your physical location. These servers are called mirrors. Sometimes a mirror will be down temporarily or offline, so if you have difficulty just choose another location. In theory, the mirror closest to you will typically have the fastest download rate. Just be patient as your download begins and grab some coffee or tea.

Step 2:

Go to Alex Feinman’s website to download and install ISO Recorder here http://isorecorder.alexfeinman.com/isorecorder.htm. The website is pretty much self-explanatory. Just make sure you download the appropriate version of the software according to your operating system. If you have an updated version of XP, you should probably use ISORecorder V2. Once you have installed it, restart your computer and look for the iso you downloaded. Right-click it and choose to “Copy image to CD.” Mr. Feinman has a great and detailed tutorial on how to use this software: http://isorecorder.alexfeinman.com/HowTo.htm. Restart your computer with the new CD in your CD-ROM tray.

Step 3:

When the CD boots you will be greeted with a screen that looks similar to this:

Go ahead and “Check CD for defects.” If all is well, you can “Start or install Ubuntu.” Remember that when it boots up, no changes are being made to your PC. It will not do anything to your computer unless you physically double-click on the “Install” icon on the Ubuntu Live CD desktop! That’s it for this blog. Stay tuned…

No Comments

No comments yet.

RSS feed for comments on this post. TrackBack URI

Leave a comment

*Name

*Email (not published)

Website

more »